Maybe a Cat Would be Nice

Painting by Catherine Lee

"A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy?"

Albert Einstein

After the Rain

Let the rain kiss you.

Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.

Let the rain sing you a lullaby.

Langston Hughes

Baby the Rain Must Fall

Baby, the rain must fall

Baby, the wind must blow

Wherever my heart leads me

Baby, I must go

Baby, I must go

By Glenn Yarbrough

"Rain is grace; rain is the sky condscending to the earth; without rain there would be no life." John Updike

Carol's Sheep and Other Things

Yale 1909
The Whiffenpoof Song
"We're poor little lambs who have lost our way, Baa Baa Baa,
We're little black sheep who have gone astray, Baa Baa Baa. Gentlemen songsters off on a spree doomed from here to eternity, Lord, have mercy on such as we, Baa Baa Baa"

Gentlemen-Rankers
by Rudyard Kipling
"We're poor little lambs who've lost our way,Baa! Baa! Baa!
We're little black sheep who've gone astray,Baa--aa--aa!
Gentlemen-rankers out on the spree,
Damned from here to Eternity,
God ha' mercy on such as we,Baa! Yah! Bah!"

Ixtapa

Some beach, somewhere
There's a beautiful sunset burning up the atsmosphere
There's music and dancing and lovers romancing in the soft evening air
On some beach, somewhere
On some beach, somewhere

Blake Shelton

Michigan Seems Like a Dream to Me Now

"It took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw. I've come to look for America." Simon & Garfunkel

Insulators and Ivy

"Green of leaf and green of sod,
green of ivy on the wall" Mary Elizabeth Blake

" I am a lineman for the county and I drive the main road
Searchin' in the sun for another overload
I hear you singin' in the wire, I can hear you through the whine
And the Wichita Lineman is still on the line"
Glen Campbell

弥勒佛 The Laughing Buddha

Then Came Lo Mein

"There were lean times, they were tough. There were mean times they were rough and the good times didn’t outweigh the bad. I was sad you were bitter, but you were no quitter when nothin’ was all that we had. We were drinkin’ a lot. We were thinkin’ of tyin’ the knot. Or maybe throw in the towel. Make up have a kid, break up and we did, but only just for awhile. Then came lo mein and going insane at the Chinese cafe way downtown. I was steamed. I was fried, but you stood by my side when I had my nervous breakdown. There were noodles galore all over the floor and hot mustard sauce everywhere. But I held your hand ‘til you calmed down again and picked out the rice in your hair. After that we agreed, when in fact what we need is to pack up and take the first plane. Take a bus, take a bike, take care, take a hike. Take out, but leave the lo mein. I remember it now when we order kung pao and bow our heads to say grace. The day we left town and that nervous breakdown at the all-you-can-eat Chinese place. At the Chinese cafe way downtown." Robert Earl Keen

Scenes from an Italian, Mexican, French Restaurant

"We should look for someone to eat and drink with before looking for something to eat and drink" Epicurus

"A bottle of white, a bottle of red
Perhaps a bottle of rose instead

We'll get a table near the street
In our old familiar place
You and I-face to face
A bottle of red, a bottle of white
It all depends on your appetite
I'll meet you any time you want
In our Italian Restaurant."

Billy Joel

The Creation

"Many believe - and I believe - that I have been designated for this work by God. In spite of my old age, I do not want to give it up; I work out of love for God and I put all my hope in Him." Michelangelo

"Back of every creation, supporting it like an arch, is faith. Enthusiasm is nothing: it comes and goes. But if one believes, then miracles occur."
Henry Miller

Cozumel

"With a Mexican heart and a Caribbean soul, Cozumel is a paradise where tradition, flavor and joy come together. "

On the Rocks

"In the end, it all comes to choices to turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones." Amber Frey

The River Dove in the Peak District of Derbyshire, England near Ilam.

Breeze Among Flowers

"I seldom think about my limitations, and they never make me sad. Perhaps there is just a touch of yearning at times; but it is vague, like a breeze among flowers." Helen Keller

Indian Paintbrush

"There are always flowers for those who want to see them." Henri Matisse

From the Hand of God

"I believe in evolution. But I also believe, when I hike the Grand Canyon and see it at sunset, that the hand of God is there also." John McCain

Flamingos

" Are the stars out tonight? I don't know if it's cloudy or bright. I only have eyes for you, dear. The moon may be high, but I can't see a thing in the sky. I only have eyes for you. I don't know if we're in a garden, or on a crowded avenue. You are here and so am I. Maybe millions of people go by, but they all disappear from view, and I only have eyes for you."

http://youtube.com/watch?v=bTkcu4GVRe8

Sunset Over the Gulf of Mexico

"Some time at eve, when my spirit is low,
I may slip my moorings and sail away
Thru purple shadows that faintly trail
O'er the ebbing tide of the unknown sea;
Where the ripple of waters tell a tale
Of a lonely voyager who sailed away
To mystic isles, where at anchor lay
The craft of those who had sailed before
O'er the unknown sea to the unknown shore."

Read at Arthur Vernet Kent's funeral.

Humungous Fungus, Humungi Fungi

A Blessing for the Woods
by Michael S. Glaser

Before I leave, almost without noticing, before I cross the road and head toward what I have intentionally postponed—
Let me stop to say a blessing for these woods: for crows barking and squirrels scampering, for trees and fungus and multi-colored leaves,
for the way sunlight laces with shadows through each branch and leaf of tree, for these paths that take me in, for these paths that lead me out.